REFLECTIONS OF AN INDIAN SCHOLAR

In India, health programs have often been imposed on the deprived poor by a syndicate of foreign agencies and the local ruling class. During the first two decades after Independence, the political setting was somewhat conducive to scientific debates on the development of health services for India's people. The scenario changed radically during the next three and a half decades, when the country's ruling class became more oppressive and foreign agencies exerted increasing pressure to impose a prefabricated and scientifically suspect agenda of health services that were even more unequal and iniquitous to the interests of the deprived. With the help of themes from some of his major works, the author reflects on his experiences of the last half-century to make a case for using scientific critiques as an instrument for resisting foreign domination.